Oct

28

SEATTLE ─ October 28, 2015 ─ According to the latest research from Cushman & Wakefield | Commerce, activity in the Seattle central business district (CBD) office market continued to be very strong in third quarter with vacancy numbers dropping, showing promise for a strong fourth quarter.

Currently there is 43,445,992 square feet of office space in the Seattle CBD with 4,219,668 square feet under construction. Overall vacancy dropped a full 4.5 percentage points on a year-over-year basis to 6.3 percent.

“With such a decline in vacancy rates and a large number of new construction developments underway, lease rates are expected to climb quickly,” Dave Magee, Washington Region Market Leader at Cushman & Wakefield | Commerce, said. “The Seattle market is one of the most sought after markets in the nation on an office level, and this trend is further backing that assumption.”

Tenant demand remains extremely strong with roughly 42 percent of new construction within for-lease buildings already leased up. For buildings expected to be completed by year-end 2016 the amount of leased space increases to 64 percent.

Top performing areas include Lower Queen Anne/Lake Union, which lead the way on both net absorption (1,576,910 square feet) and properties under construction (1,888,530 square feet). Highest rental rates topped out in the Financial District at $40.24 per square foot.

The most significant transaction of third quarter was the sale of Columbia Center, a 1.5 million square foot building that was acquired by GAW Capital for $711 million. Vulcan Real Estate also sold 2201 Westlake (occupied by Amazon) for $792 per square foot.

Two notable leases include a lease for 208,000 square feet at NorthEdge signed by Tableau and a lease for 81,029 square feet at 8th and Olive signed by Avvo.

Together the firms manage more than 52 million sq. ft. of retail, industrial, and office assets, have annual revenues of more than $100 million, and employ more than 750 professionals. Learn more at www.comre.com; www.cushwakenm.com. Cushman & Wakefield | Commerce and Cushman & Wakefield | NorthMarq are part of the Cushman & Wakefield platform, which is the world’s largest privately-held commercial real estate services firm with 259 offices in 60 countries globally.